Edinburgh International Film Festival — A–Z of films

Family ties and the way that the past can affect the present are playfully - and sometimes poignantly - explored.

It is a disturbing experience, but a powerful and well constructed one.

The abiding sense is one of a gentle progress, an unfolding as of leaves, shadows dappled sliding slowly afternoonwards.

The heart of Gitai's film is in the right place but the script runs off at the mouth.

Strikingly lacking in originality or sense of fun.

The situation of women is emphasised, showing that no matter what the station in life, it is patriarchy - however unjust - that dominates the outcome, even after death.

This short film's theme - of the errant quest for dignity and labour - represents a timeless European tale.

This sympathetic and thoughtful portrayal of the many faces of marriage avoids clichés about the good old days as well as the bad ones.

Beautifully shot, aided by beautiful country, there's mist and rain, birds on a wire, and real humour too.

Worthy, entertaining, but suffers in places from heavy-handedness.

A clever, minimal bit of film-making.

It is accurate to say that Watkins's Culloden is truly a seminal work, which, in many ways, changed forever the way in which documentary and historical programmes were shot.

Basatneh is a compelling presence in the film and a strong reminder that youth activism is alive and well.

As Hector, Lucio Gimenez Cacho embodies the three primary desires of any teenage boy: getting one's way, getting one's end away, and potato chips.

Be prepared for scenes you finish in your own head to haunt you.

An often searing indictment of the abuse of power that a privileged elite feel is their right.

The fantastic interrupts the profane.

Affectionate, engaging, and a great indicator of talent.

It's not quite as comprehensive as might have been hoped, but it still has a lot to say and a lot of fun doing it.

There is plenty to admire here, including some clever juxtaposition of audio and image.

Finsterwalder gets remarkable performances out of her first-rate ensemble.

Karimi doesn't try to simplify the issues - the family of the dead man are shown and their grief and anger are treated with respect.

Though it's never less than engaging, there's a nagging sense of missing out on the bigger picture.

Awe inspiring.

Any greater insight into the life of Fuller is most welcome.

Its plot unfolds in fits and starts, like summer holidays remembered.

By the time Frost heads north, Perkins has ensured we are fully invested in his quest and carefully chooses his shots to suggest an opening out of the Londoner's understanding.

The characterisation of this verdant terra incognito is decidedly old-fashioned, like a racist grandpa who insists on holding the door for ladies.

Chandler's excellent script allows the raw drama to take centre stage.

Joanna Coates' Hide And Seek comes as a breath of fresh air.

For Hult, home is a place where you can be yourself and where you'll always be welcome, no change required.

Reitz and co-writer Gert Heidenreich define home as the bosom of family, as an emotional shelter or storm, rather than simply the roof over Jakob's head.

Shows how tension can be mounted on a budget.

There’s really no excuse for producing such a visually insipid film.

The charm levels are high

Bent copper. Check. A liking for the charlie. Check. Shady gangsters operating out of shady strip clubs. Check.

With the pacing so glacial, the predictable story is likely to prove fatal for all but the most patient viewers.

Wolf may have bared his soul but the world he inhabits remains frustratingly shrouded.

A beautiful piece of clockwork film-making, full of parts that rotate to change meaning.

The neat trick of Aakeson and Moland is to balance the humour with unexpected moments of poignancy and humanity as fathers from both sides of the criminal tracks share the common ground of parenthood.

You should be puzzled.

A confident and assured portrayal of a distinct lack of confidence and assurance.

Ivo Pietzcker's performance is amazing.

Cage takes commanding ownership of the somewhat familiar material and milieu.

A meditative miniature of hypnotic grace.

Côté deliberately refuses to manufacture a conclusion, leaving it to us to make of it what we will.

Like many a portmanteau film Letters From The South is an uneven collection, with some films enchanting while others frustrate in equal measure.

Credit must go to cinematographer Piers McGrail whose sumptuous visuals add to the tension and creeping sense of dread.

Thapa, Siddiqui and Gupta - not to mention the goat - are all eminently watchable but Mohandas' pacing leaves much to be desired.

Feels less experimental and alternative than, well, the zombie genre demands.

The film, like the cable car, is suspended and moving constantly between two points - not the embarkment station, which gives way to the lives of the present or the exit gateway to the temple of the past - but a continuum of fact and construction.

Characters grapple with the sorts of conflict and antagonism that can crop up in any family but which here gather to a thunder-head intensity.

Monkey Love Experiments uses a multitude of techniques to good effect.

The end result may look good but it never feels distinctive despite the wealth of talent involved in front of and behind the camera.

My Accomplice is an enjoyable little story that bimbles along quite pleasantly and leaves one generally pleased for having watched it.

A lyrical celebration of human endeavour in challenging circumstances.

Perhaps too close, too intimate, too involved, too near.

Like the best of the Pixar and Looney Tunes output, Lepeniotis doesn't dwell on his visual gags waiting for each one to get a laugh, instead frequently throwing them out one after the other to good culmulative effect.

A truly remarkable film.

Turning a sandwich upside-down does not tend to constitute innovation.

It has been described in places as "very funny" but it's closer to laughable.

If there's a wish for more in Palo Alto, it's largely because what is here works so well.

Scintilla is minimal, efficient, entertaining.

The performances of Kora Karvouni as Anna and Maria Skoula as Sophia are captivating.

Set Fire To The Stars never quite catches, but that's not to deny the chemistry between its leads or the artistry of its approach.

The end product of a long and dismal trend in American indies, where the effort to create art just like the art one saw last week has produced a formula that is exponentially recursive.

Shelton has to do a lot as Peggy, the camera rarely leaves her and she is called on to convey complex emotions with little dialogue - and she does a good job.

Feels more like an exercise in personal therapy than a fully fledged film.

The mix of action and satire also turns it into an absorbing hell of a ride.

It is a spectacular, brilliantly realised piece of moviemaking

Almost perfectly constructed... a stunning piece of filmmaking.

Not still, but gently moving.

Like a family scrapbook - Benn himself approved the final cut - what is contained here is carefully curated, chosen to represent in a certain way but thanks to Benn's unnerring conviction, is no less fascinating for that.

The act of revenge here is presented not as an outlet for anger but as one of desperation, an emotion that runs through the film.

Although the crowd scenes and military violence are depressingly familiar, Snowdon also finds individual faces to outline the strength of sentiment across many of the countries.

What makes von Einsiedel's film work so well is the human - and gorilla - face that he gives to the problem.

Romance is dead on arrival and the comedy should be served a gagging order.

The exposition tends to be laboured; what few gestures towards subtlety are made are lost in repetition.

The young cast all excel in roles which require the utmost duplicity

Brings a sense of immediacy to events now far away in time.

Unique in humour, unique in form

The biggest problem with Ryan Piers Williams' latest is that, although it is nicely shot and well acted, the characters with the most going for them are given the least screentime.

It's a well constructed, well paced, well made film, but it's poised and polished and professional where one might hope for something a bit more ramshackle, a mite more rebellious.